As I mentioned in my last post for the Grilled Chicken Souvlaki Recipe, the oven at the lake house we’re renting acts like a furnace, so I won’t be doing much baking for the next few months until the weather cools again.
Fortunately, I made this delicious low carb baked chicken with cauliflower rice over a month ago – and I figured I’d better share it ASAP, because even with a working oven most people aren’t looking to bake their dinner in the Summertime while the grill reigns supreme.
I promise this recipe is worth a little residual heat in your kitchen though – it’s easy to throw together and tastes fantastic!
When I was a kid, baked chicken with rice was a regular meal at our house. There were 5 of us kids and we were on a very tight budget, so chicken thighs or drumsticks with rice was not only easy – it was inexpensive.
Even though the cauliflower is a bit more expensive than rice cup for cup – this low carb recipe still won’t break the bank. It also reheats well making it the perfect keto recipe for lunches all week.
Typically with chicken and rice in our house, my mom would either flavor it with orange juice or cream of mushroom soup – both of those bring back good memories, but aren’t so low carb friendly.
In my version, I used olives and lemon to give it a complex, tangy flavor. It’s comforting as chicken and “rice” should be – but also fresh and bright enough to be enjoyed in the Summertime since it’s not overly heavy.
As is, this recipe is Paleo friendly and even Whole 30 compliant – it’s dairy free, egg free, nut free, grain free, gluten free, etc. If none of those things are a concern – a little feta cheese thrown in before baking would make this recipe even more delicious.
Now if, like me, you loathe the idea of turning your oven on when it’s over 80 degrees outside, you could definitely make this in a slow cooker. The only trade off is, you won’t get the crispy chicken skin that is my hand’s down favorite part.
Still tasty though – and perfect for those busy weeknights when you want to come home to a delicious low carb dinner ready to serve.
Lastly, I love the versatility in this dish, because you can really customize the flavors in an infinite number of ways on this low carb chicken and “rice” recipe. Change out the olives, lemon and parsley for any other herbs and or veggies, maybe some tomatoes, a creamy sauce, etc. and you can eat this all year in a hundred different ways.
In fact I’ll probably be experimenting myself once I start using my oven again – I’ll be sure to post the delicious results if and when I do!
As always I love getting your feedback and comments – let me know what you thought of it and also your creative ideas on how to flavor it differently!
Low Carb Baked Chicken and Cauliflower Rice
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
This is a fantastic low carb remake of the baked chicken with rice recipe of my childhood. It’s inexpensive, delicious, and easy to throw together. It’s also Paleo and Whole 30 compliant!
Ingredients
For the cauliflower rice:
- 7 cups finely chopped raw cauliflower
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
- 1/3 cup pitted green olives (I used Castelanata), quartered
- 2 Tbsp lemon zest
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt (or more to taste)
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
For the baked chicken:
- 2 lbs chicken pieces (drumsticks, thighs, or breasts)
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp paprika (smoked if you have it)
Instructions
- Combine all of the cauliflower rice ingredients together in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Spread out in a 13 x 9 baking dish.
- Combine all of the chicken seasonings in a small bowl. Rub all over the chicken pieces. Place the chicken pieces on top of the cauliflower rice. Sprinkle any remaining seasoning over the top.
- Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the skin is crisp. Serve hot.
- Alternatively, you could put all of this in a crockpot and cook it on low for 6 hours.
Notes
Approximate nutrition information per serving:
1 pc. chicken & 1 cup cauli rice – 345 calories, 19g fat, 5g net carbs, 34g protein
- Category: Main Dish
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
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Janet says
Wow! Delicious! And, I usually don’t love cauliflower rice because it just tastes too much like cauliflower.
I know…duh! ; ) ….but thought I’d give this a try. SO glad I did!
Kay says
I love this recipe; it’s easy and delicious ~ even my hubby likes it!
Rhonda says
Could I use “garlic stuffed green olives” instead of the olives and garlic?
Mellissa Sevigny says
Theoretically yes!
Glenna says
I love the simplicity of this. It tastes great and it’s easy to make. Winner in my book. Something that I can stick with.
Laurie says
Loved it! The bright lemon, brine from the olives, and the smoked paprika were a great flavor combo. I’ll definitely make this again. Thanks!
Mellissa Sevigny says
Thanks for taking the time to rate and comment Laurie – I’m so happy that you enjoyed these flavors as much as we did!
pc says
I made this before as per exact recipe above and it was pretty good. Made it again this evening except I only had boneless, skinless thighs and frozen riced cauli.. Yeah so don’t try that! I’ll still eat it but it’s nowhere near as good as following the recipe as written!
Cissy says
Super delish! I am doing the SCKC and this dish was very filling yet light. I had it again for lunch today and it’s even better. Thanks Melllissa!
Rachel says
To save time, I used Trader Joe’s frozen Organic Riced Cauliflower. My son helped himself to a portion and said he had no idea what he was eating, but it was GREAT! The cauli rice reminded him of artichoke hearts with lemon. Interesting… lol
Jessica says
I love meals that come together in the same dish! I just omitted the olives, since I’m not a fan, and it was excellent!!
Renee says
Excellent recipe! This is delicious and fills the spot of a good home cooked meal! Thanks!
Jane says
This turned out much better than I expected! Very good! When I’m back on dairy I think the cauli would be great with parm mixed in so it’s more like risotto. I omitted the olives because I’m not a fan. Will definitely make again.
BoJe says
Did you leave the skin on the chicken thighs?
Chris Covell says
Hiya! So I made this recipe for dinner tonight. Tweaked a tad. I put all in the crock pot but instead of the chicken thighs I cut up chicken breasts I bought from Costco. I didn’t quite have enough for 7 cups of cauliflower so added chopped up broccoli to supplement and add a little color. I fiddled with the timing too and ended up cooking all for about two and a half hours on high then about two and a half more hours on low. The sauce was “watery” as others mentioned but that was I think just the veggies cooking down. Normal. To thicken things up I added about 1/4 shredded Parmesan and 1/4 cup Feta to the mix right before serving. Family dug it! Will have more for dinner tomorrow. Cheers
Judy M Wiseman says
I haven’t eaten this yet, but it smells divine. Just took it out of the oven. I came here to check out why I had so much liquid and found out what to do with it. Starting Squeaky Clean tomorrow and already, my DH, wants to eat my whole week’s lunches or dinner, for our dinner tonight!
Eileen says
Both of us loved this recipe! I’m surprised that some thought it too lemony. We thought it perfect and olives were seriously nice touch. I made, and cooked it exactly as written. I’m loving your recipes and your “blog” often cracks me up. Thanks!!
Jordan says
I’m not sure if someone has already mentioned. But for the low carbers, surprisingly garlic powder has about 7g of carbs to a tsp!! Substitute or omit if doing the recipe.
Mellissa Sevigny says
NO, garlic powder does NOT have 7g of carbs in a teaspoon. It has 2g carbs and .3g fiber so 1.7g net carbs per teaspoon. If you’re going to come and drop numbers and give advice to others, please make sure it’s correct first.
Jen says
Mellissa, have you tried this in the crockpot yet? Do you use the same amount of liquid?
Elise says
This looks delicious, can’t wait to try on my very picky husband, except I don’t like olives. Any suggestions for a good substitute, besides mushrooms, don’t like those either.
Anna S says
If I used boneless chicken breasts–how long do you suggest I cook them? Also, would I need to tweak anything else in the recipe then?
Mellissa Sevigny says
You could cook them a little less, but you may find your sauce won’t thicken without the fat and collagen found in chicken on the bone with skin on. Still tastes good, just might be a little watery.
Judy says
The first time I made this dish I was on my own – my teenage sons were on summer holiday with family in the States. It was the first time I tried cauliflower rice, and I thought the dish was balanced, bright and filling. This evening, some 8 months later, I made it again as a true test: for my 15-year old who is, as they can be, a food critic. He is also an athlete and increasingly conscientious about healthy eating for performance. He liked this dish a lot and commented that he was happy to go a meal without rice, which is difficult to avoid in our current corner of the world. As for me, I found the recipe equally satisfying the second time around, made exactly as written both times. This one stays in my recipe file.
Mellissa Sevigny says
Thanks so much Judy, I really like this one a lot too! Tell your son thanks as well – I’m glad he enjoyed it!!!
Missy says
I’m partial to boneless, skinless chicken thighs, so that’s what I used on top. It cut the cooking time down so I didn’t add as much liquid to the cauliflower, next time, I’m going to try the same method with an Asian flair, adding peas and carrots to the cauliflower rice and using a clean eating teriyaki sauce on top.
Cheryl says
Missy, how long did you cook the boneless skinless chicken ??? Thank You…
Carol says
This was amazing!!! I added a side of steamed green beans to it Thank you!!!
Suzette says
Made this for the first time last night and it was delicious! Everyone loved it. Thank you for a great recipe.
Sharon H says
Mellissa, this sounds really good and I’m going to try it soon. But I was wondering what you meant by “net carbs” in the nutrition info. Does that mean total carbs?
Thanks, and I’m looking forward to perusing the rest of your recipes. I’m just starting on this Paleo way of eating.
Kelley L James says
Net carb is the whole amount of carbs minus the fiber,(dietary fiber). This gives you the net carbs. This is the number you get when counting carbs.
I hope this helps.😊
Monique says
I am so happy I found this site and this recipe. My son said “mom, I like the way you cooked this rice!” I didn’t have the heart to tell him it wasn’t rice, he enjoyed it so much! This dish was very light and surprisingly refreshing. I definitely will be making it again.
Mellissa Sevigny says
So glad you guys enjoyed it Monique – I haven’t made this in awhile but I think it’s time I added it back into my roster too!
Hallie k says
Just wanted to let you know I think I make this dish once a week! My husband loves it, so flavorful and solo easy! I’ve got the recipe so down pat that I’m now making fun changes, adding mushrooms, tweaking etc etc… Love this recipe! Thank you for sharing it,
Sarah says
Do you mind providing “recipes” for your favorite combinations? I don’t like olives and not a fan of lemon chicken, so I’d love different variations!
Morgan says
Has anyone yet to try it in the slowcooker? Any noted tweaks?
Chef Nairda says
I have found (with a similar recipe that if you drain the cauliflower after baking for a while that it helps with the moisture problem. Cauliflower is just that way. I’m sure that this will be a great meal for tonight and tomorrow. I used Kalamata olives and a few black olives. Super stoked to try out a new healthier meal!
Kelly L says
OK – This is in the oven right now. Smells great! I made it pretty much as you gave it – I did halve the recipe because it’s just for me…..I added another spice or two to the chicken….Smells great (and, best of all, it’s pretty easy!) :)
Jessica says
Thanks for the recipe!!! I skipped the olives only because I did not have them on hand. I absolutely loved the “rice”; I’ve really struggled to find rice cauliflower I like. So thank you!!! My husband loved it and wants to know when I’ll make the next pan. Yummo!!!
Julie says
Not as good as it looks. Needs lots of tweeking.
Dora says
I made your recipe for the baked chicken and cauliflower rice tonight. There’s no such olive as the one you mentioned in the recipe so I ended up picking my own and it was verrrry salty. Actually, I found the whole dish to be salty. I also agree that the lemon was so overpowering.We ended up throwing it out and ordered food.
Mellissa Sevigny says
Hi Dora, I’m sorry this didn’t work out for you. Whole you may not have had them in your stores, I can assure you that castelenata oloves do exist and are delicious. They are big and meaty and not especially salty, so if you chose a really salty green olive, like the ones with the pimento in them they I can see how it would have overpowered the dish. That amount of lemon shouldn’t have overpowered 7 cups of cauliflower either, perhaps the brininess of the olives amplified the lemon flavor. In any case, I’m sorry that you didn’t enjoy it!
deborah says
i agree the lemon is a bit overpowering. the chicken was good but there was too much liquid in it. i think that i would just stir fry the cauliflower the next time.
Mellissa Sevigny says
If the lemon was overpowering and you had too much liquid, then I’m guessing you didn’t use the full 7 cups of ricedcauliflower! Sorry it didn’t work out for you!
Melissa says
Curious to know if you can just use frozen cauliflowered rice from Trader Joe’s instead?
Thank you,
Melissa
Mellissa Sevigny says
Yes, definitely!
Angela Raum says
Yes you can. 3 bags of cauliflower = 10 cups so freeze the rest for something else, maybe a stirfry.
Tina Wilson says
Have you tried this with boneless, skinless chicken breasts? I have a frozen bag of organic boneless, skinless chicken breasts from Costco that I’m trying to use. I was just wondering if you HAVE to have the bones and skin to make the flavor? I was also going to use the frozen bag of cauliflower rice from Trader Joe’s. Should I thaw it?
Sorry for all the questions, I just didn’t want to ruin it.
Thanks so much!! Excited to try this :)
-Tina
Asia says
Oh my! I’m going to give this a shot this weekend. Yum
Maggie says
This did not turn out so well so far. The rice didn’t cook…. at all. Its currently sitting gin the frying pan to finish. I also would omit the lemon. It’s a bit over powering. I’m really disappointed b/c I had pretty high hopes.
Lisa Ryan says
Melissa what a wonderful recipe! I was looking for ideas to make cauliflower. Did not have the chicken but it came out delicious without it! Can’t wait to do this again with the chicken. Thanks for sharing!
Tere says
It was delicious! Two thumbs up from the fam — even MY Mr. Picky enjoyed it (his favorite was the chicken seasoning). So, I guess I found you an alternative for the egocentric cauliflower.
Tere says
Soooo, I was thinking about you as I prepared this dish tonight. I was out of cauliflower…didn’t have time to run to the market for more; so, I still don’t know if our Cauli prices have risen like yours. So, price is not the reason I subbed Brussels sprouts for the cauliflower. However, I’ll let you know if the Brussels are just as good as the cauliflower. (I’m just leaving them whole b/c I don’t think I’d like riced Brussels sprouts).
Mellissa Sevigny says
I bet it was great – lemon and olives would be delicious with brussels sprouts too I imagine! Let me know who it turned out!
Kelly Isaacson says
How would you prepare for a freezer type meal?
teri says
Hi I want to make this recipe but do you use rice or are you calling it cauliflower rice since its chopped so small?
Mellissa Sevigny says
It’s “riced” cauliflower – so no real rice involved! Just chop or grate the cauliflower and it will give you a very rice like texture!
teri says
Awesome making it tonight!
Pearl Smith says
Did you read the ingredients list?
Michele says
Hi Melissa,
I made this last night and it was really good. I used 2 heads of Cauliflower, which came out to 10 cups riced. I only added 1 cup of chicken broth and cooked it for 1 hour at 425. I used 4 large chicken breasts on the bone so it took longer. I also added extra olives. I would make this again for sure but would be careful about the chicken broth if you don’t want it to be too wet. I might even try plain old chicken breast without the skins since I had a difficult time getting the skin to crisp up even after a few under the broiler. The spice blend was yummy and it gets lost if you pull the skin off. My 14 year old son even liked it and he hates cauliflower! Great dish. Thank you!
Mark says
I made this a week ago, although I cooked it for about half an hour at 400° followed by some length of time (maybe another half hour) at 300-325°. It was absolutely delicious!
Elizabeth says
I made this tonight and it didn’t turn out so well. I’m trying to figure out why. First of all, it took much longer to cook the chicken thighs – over an hour. Of course, that may just have been due to the size of my thighs (my chicken thighs, that is). Secondly, the cauliflower mixture had a LOT of liquid. Between the chicken broth and the juices the thighs exuded, the “rice” was really wet. Maybe I didn’t have enough cauliflower? I confess I didn’t measure it; I just processed one medium-large head. And finally, I found the lemon flavor jarring and overwhelming. That much zest plus the juice was too much, at least for me.
I’m disappointed because the recipe sounded so promising. I will say the chicken turned out tender, juicy, and flavorful. I really enjoyed the spice rub. It sounded pretty plain – but the flavor was wonderful!
If you have any thoughts about why my dish didn’t work, please let me know. I’d love to try this again and have it turn out as well as it seemed to for others.
Thank you!
Nicole says
I also had the problem with too much liquid. I set the chicken aside and tossed up the cauliflower rice in a frying pan until all the juices were gone, solved the problem!
Karen says
I will try that! Mine has a little too much liquid too
Angela Raum says
1 head of cauliflower equals about 4 cups so you’d need 2. I used frozen bags in which I used 3 bags, which made 10 cups. I froze the rest.
Julie says
Agree…certainly not as good as it looks. Edible, but could use a lot of tweeking. I found it a bit lacking , an amateurish dish. The rub was the only good combination of flavors.
nicole thomas says
Made this yummy dish on friday…was so good…. added the feta and twice as much olives ( green and black!!) everyone thought it was so gourmet and delicious…. thank you again, my favorite genius… i keep sneaking bites of the “rice” :)
Tamarra says
The lemon and olives sounds yum. And crispy chicken skin is the best! A nice easy dinner to put together, my kids love ‘chicken on the bone’ (drumsticks) so I’ll be sure to try this out.
Mellissa Sevigny says
Hope it’s a hit with the whole family Tamarra! Hungry Jr. loves drumsticks and calls it “chicken on the bone” too!
nicole thomas says
Melissa, you are wonderful… thank you!! I really love your flavor profiles, not just with this recipe… but period! You are gifted :)
Mellissa Sevigny says
Awwww – thank YOU Nicole! It’s comments like this that keep me going when I’m having a long day! :)
Jan says
Perfect thing to do with that cauliflower I have in my vegetable bin. I was going to shop for bone-in chicken thighs this evening any way! I’ll cut the recipe in half, though, since it’s just me :)
Mellissa Sevigny says
Can’t wait to hear back Jan! Hope you like it as much as we did!
Jan says
I commented last night when I actually had just eaten this delicious meal, but apparently it got lost in the internet ether. This was a 5-star meal – the chicken thighs had very crispy skin and the seasoning was great. The cauliflower rice had a really nice flavor combination. Together it was definitely a win. The best part, though, is that I have 3 (now 2) meals left. Had one for lunch at work today. Thanks, Melissa for all the great recipes!